Unspoken Trust
by harukafics
Summary: The best kind of friend is the one you can trust to keep a secret.


This was the result of a fifteen-minute word challenge. The challenge word is stated at the end of the ficlet.

Unspoken Trust (Prince of Tennis)

By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)

* * *

Kabaji Munehiro closed his locker door and headed down the corridor of Hyotei Gakuen. Despite it being congested with Sophomore students, he was taller than most of them, and was able to see his way clearly.

"Hey, Kabaji-kun!"

The tennis team Regular stopped and turned, waiting for the classmate that had been chasing him down. He thought he recognized him as being one of the 200 non-Regular members of the team, but wasn't sure.

"Has Atobe-buchou said anything about a change-up in the roster?" he asked hopefully. "As in, giving some of the rest of us a chance to be Regulars more often?"

"No," Kabaji replied and turned away.

"Why not?" the other boy persisted. "Some of us are good – REALLY good – we deserve to be Regulars!"

Kabaji didn't reply and kept walking. That wasn't enough for his classmate, who had apparently had enough of being polite. He grabbed Kabaji's wrist, forcing him to stop.

"Listen," he said, with a slight sneer in his expression, "I KNOW you're close to Atobe, maybe as close as anyone can get to the Ice King of Hyotei without actually sleeping with him—" The boy paused, and his sneer turned into an evil smile. "Unless you're doing THAT, too."

Kabaji returned his triumphant smugness with the steady, unreadable gaze he was famous for. He made no move to jerk his arm away, even though with his size and strength, doing so could send his assailant into the wall.

Or maybe it was because of that.

"What? You're not going to say anything?" the boy demanded. "Not even to DENY it?"

The tall Regular remained silent and unmoving. His classmate snorted in disgust and released him.

"You won't talk now, but I'll bet you tell Atobe what I said fast enough and he'll have me booted off the team entirely. Thanks for nothing, jerk!"

The other boy stalked away, and Kabaji continued down the hall.

He wasn't going to tell Atobe. There was no reason for it so long as the boy wasn't going to start spreading rumours, and if he did that, Atobe would find out through the grapevine soon enough and crush him in all ways possible. His classmate didn't need his help in attaining his own destruction.

Kabaji knew he wasn't a typical junior high student. It wasn't just that he was thirteen years old and already six-foot-two. He wasn't a gossip. He minded his own business and kept to himself, even when he was with the other Regulars. Some of them more than made up for his silence, anyway. He would talk to Atobe, of course, but even with his buchou and friend he wasn't likely going to be the one to start a conversation. That suited Atobe fine – Kabaji knew the older boy appreciated his lack of mindless chatter. He was exactly what someone like Atobe, who enjoyed talking about himself, needed: A good listener.

As for the accusation, well, it was false. Atobe did indeed have a secret affair going on, but not with Kabaji, nor anyone else from Hyotei. However, Kabaji WAS the only one at Hyotei who knew who it was, and he wasn't telling.

He went upstairs to the Seniors' locker area; a place no Sophomores were normally allowed to venture into. However, as a Regular on the tennis team, he had special permission. Besides, Atobe had summoned him earlier, and he'd been on his way there when his classmate had intercepted him.

He saw Atobe lounging by his locker, talking on his cell phone. He noticed Kabaji approaching, and the younger boy heard him say, "I'll call you back later, Tezuka … No, I won't call during class next time, although I'm sure anything I have to say is more important than whatever your teacher might be droning on about." He listened for a moment, then smiled and shut off the phone, looking up at Kabaji. "Sakaki-sensei has cancelled practice for today, so I'm bringing the Regulars to my place for a pool party instead. Tell Choutarou and Hiyoshi."

"Yes," Kabaji replied, as Atobe knew he would. There was a lot to be said for a friend who didn't say a lot.

* * *

(Word challenge – Silent)

(2005)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


End file.
